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OUR VIEW: Don’t judge mobility pricing idea too harshly

Burnaby residents grappling with higher car insurance, gas, food, daycare and housing costs probably haven’t paid too close attention to a more than 300-page report that looks into charging more to use roads and bridges in the Lower Mainland.
traffic
Any plan to get cars off the road will need vision and fortitude. Who's got what it takes to make decisions for the greater good?

Burnaby residents grappling with higher car insurance, gas, food, daycare and housing costs probably haven’t paid too close attention to a more than 300-page report that looks into charging more to use roads and bridges in the Lower Mainland.

But as they start to look at their household budgets over the next 10 years, they may want to make some smart decisions about where they live and how they plan to get to and from work.

Although the mobility pricing study for Metro Vancouver and TransLink is so far just an intellectual exercise with a number of scenarios identified – and their costs and benefits – one day this kind of congestion charge could be in place.

Early indications are that drivers could pay upwards of $2,000 or more a year, depending on the type of charge and their driving habits.

One proposal would be to charge for distance, costing drivers between $3 to $5 a day to reduce congestion, and eight zones were used in the analysis.

The other would be a regional congestion point charge, with bridges – and North Road as well as other congested roads – used as collection points for charging drivers. Under a scenario in the current study, North Road was added to make sure that drivers who don’t use bridges would also have to pay, too.

These ideas are just at the study stage right now, and it could be five or more years of study, policy development and implementation before drivers are charged.

And woe to the politicians stuck with trying to put forth such a plan – a proposal to make drivers pay more will take some guts.

This plan is only palatable if it is fair, actually works to cut congestion by 25 per cent as promised, is matched with transit improvements to give people more access, bus fares are kept low and charges, such as the hated fuel tax, are reduced or eliminated.

One thing is for certain – traffic may be manageable now, but what about 20 years from now with one million more people in the region?

No one wants the kind of traffic faced by commuters in Los Angeles or even Seattle, but paying $100 or $200 a month per driver may be a price few are willing to pay for a shorter commute.